Record 1,178 sea turtle nests on Sanibel and Captiva face big threats

SANIBEL, Fla. (WINK) — The Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation says this is a record-breaking season for loggerhead nesting on Sanibel and Captiva.

So far, Sanibel has 935 sea turtle nests, including 922 loggerhead nests. Captiva has another 243 nests.

That's 1,178 nests between the two islands. More nests don't necessarily mean more baby turtles.

Every nest still has to make it to hatch day. Baby sea turtles face a lot of challenges from egg to hatch day and finally making it to the water.

Temperature shifts and physical destruction are big ones. Coyotes have already depredated more than one in five Sanibel nests and about one in three on Captiva.

Storms and high tides have washed nearly 100 nests. Matt DePaolis with SCCF said the record numbers are encouraging, but they're only the beginning.

"Once the baby turtles hatch, we need to make sure those hatchlings can make it into the water," DePaolis said.

READ MORE: Coyotes destroying sea turtle nests on Sanibel at alarming rate

"Some hatchings have already occurred. We're waiting on the next few, and it's going to be this continual process until hopefully we have a bunch of baby turtles out in the ocean," DePaolis said. "We continue to monitor. We collect the data, and this data is really important going forward."

Nesting season runs through Oct. 31. DePaolis said protecting these turtles isn't just about protecting the nests—it's about protecting the habitat they need to survive.